NPCs/Content
No city in the settled world contains as many vampires as Rome. Its immense physical size and burgeoning mortal population, in excess of one million people, can support an impressive number of Kindred. The Camillus Edicts allow vampires to avoid detection by blending in to society, and limit the extreme practices that characterized the wanton decadence of fallen Carthage. Even Methuselahs are said to abide by these laws -- or cover their tracks sufficiently to avoid upsetting the Pater Camillus. The vampires below are widely known to maintain residency in the city at one time or another. Notable Cainites Luminaries: * Boukephos: Boukephos united shattered factions within the Clan of Shadows after the great diaspora resettled after Pompey's purge of pirates in the eastern Mediterranean in the 80s BCE. Personal magnetism makes him a potent ally and talented orator matched only by Camillus himself. The Triumvir of the Lasombra wields unimaginable mind-influencing gifts, such that he commonly prefers to withhold his verbal judgment in the Eternal Senate. * Camillus: The second Pater (Prince) of Rome, this influential and powerful Ventrue harbours unimaginable ambitions for the Kindred. He desires nothing less than creation of the Third City itself, a matchless pinnacle of vampiric civilization. Through calculated plans and a complex alliance of debts, he has earned loyalty of vampires across the Italian peninsula. His vision has influenced clans the breadth of the known world. * Cassius, Lord of the Catacombs: Old as the Republic that birthed him, the Magister of the Plebeian Tribunal advocates for the clans not so blessed by the Triumvirate's favour. Neonates say a toga doesn't drop without him knowing first, and they may be right. His extensive clientele peers from every derelict doorway and slum alley. Catacombs under the city are his undisputed realm where his authority is absolute. He looks with disdain and suspicion upon the Cappadocian envoys. * Gaius Claudius Marcellus: This relatively young vampire commands a tremendous position for a man Embraced during the Battle of Carthage. He owes much of his position as Magister of the Patrician Tribunal to respect obtained in his mortal life and immense wealth obtained through advantageous marriage. He died at the peak of his martial and political prowess, and silently controls the majority of his gens from afar. Marcellus is an idealist and deeply enchanted by Camillus' vision to the point of rosy-coloured fanaticism. * Marcus the Advocate: Magister of the Peregrini Tribunal, this moderate Brujah witnessed firsthand the collapse of Carthaginian power and strives to restore the good name of the clan. His immense personal charisma won over younger vampires who had not experienced the battles firsthand, whereas his exemplary conduct and superior oratory skills silenced critics. He has as many adversaries as admirers. * Rodolfo: Triumvir of clan Malkavian, he rose to fill the position vacated upon the suicide of his Sire, Tryphosa. He gained his position by more than bartering Tryphosa's reputation as a true seer. Rodolfo attained an exalted post among the Tribunal of Augurs after the Third Punic War, and he receives a healthy dose of respect due to a keen ability to negotiate delicately between clans Ventrue and Lasombra. The healthy dose of fear derives from his deep studies into the discipline of Dementation. * Julia Vanthia: Childe of Tinia, the Triumvir of clan Ventrue was one of the thirteen acolytes to follow her into exile in Italy. She became widely revered among the Etruscans as "Vanth," the herald of death and protector of worthy heroes. Her mythological counterparts's associations with justice are in keeping with this ancient vampire's keen interest in leveling laws and edicts correctly. Though others within her clan would gladly usurp her seat at the first opportunity, Julia maintains her position by a mix of guile and brute force. * Vegoia: Vegoia might be one or a coterie of vampires, all serving as Magister of the Augurs. She has served little more than a decade since Tryphosa's untimely death, and the Tribunal of Augurs shudders and trembles with harrowing visions. She strives to hold together a disturbed henhouse of mad men and mystics. Her typical form is a wizened crone commanding respect through brutal force or an Etruscan matron. Her mastery of Obfuscation makes this no easier to determine. She casts no reflection, supposedly curse leveled by a vengeful sorcerer. Other Figures: * Helena: Once the greatest Toreador in Greece, Helena is a figure of controversy and division. A fallout with her lover in Carthage drove her into the arms of its greatest enemy, Rome, and she gleefully addressed the assembled Eternal Senate to lay out damning evidence of infernalism and gross violations against the kine. Many factions might have forgiven the latter if not proof she supplied that many clans were held in bondage by the Bene Haqim (the clan of assassins descended from Haqim) and fallen Brujah. She departed before the death of Augustus Caesar and returns with regularity to ruffle feathers and shatter hearts. * Cybele: Synonymous with the Near Eastern goddess famed for mad orgies, Cybele make take her name from the deity or masquerade as a god to an enraptured cult. She moved her female devotees to Rome during the Punic Wars. Roman Cainites herald her as a leading force to spur the Ventrue to assault Carthage, spurred by her visions. Skeptics believe she achieved support by cashing in old debts. Surviving Carthaginians loathe her as a traitor to the city and wish her dead, as do her great enemies, the Baali. Her origins and history are a matter of speculation. This Malkavian walks the Road of Sins, possibly as one of its first practitioners. * Montano: The Lasombra Methuselah is rumoured to walk roads favoured by the Legions and darken courts attended by Rome's great men. Common speculation within the clan placed him in Iberia until the past century. He never walks far from Lasombra, and his presence sends Roman mystics into flurries of speculation. Historical Figures: * Collat: This Ventrue was the first Pater (Prince) of Rome and the founder of the Eternal Senate's forerunner, the Council of Twelve. He modeled the organization of clan Ventrue on the early Roman Republic assembly, and its success was later absorbed into clans Malkavian and Lasombra as the city expanded. Collat opposed the participation of other "outsider" clans in the city, causing deep philosophical differences with his childe, Camillus, and other influential members. He formed a cult of personality around himself to deflect criticism and control rebellious neonates, many of whom ended up drawn to Carthage's liberal society. After increased tyrannical behaviour, Collat disappeared in 322 BCE. * Inanna: A Malkavian oracle remembered in Rome as the "Cassandra prophet" during the First Punic War. She issued warnings of the darkness seething beneath the city, but clan Ventrue refused to take action. She took her leave of the city after speaking dooms privately to the Triumvirs of Lasombra and Malkavian, words said to be sealed by mystic means in the clans' vaults. * Tinia: Little remembered conflict with the Lasombra drove Tinia the Methuselah, with a conclave of thirteen Ventrue, into the Italic Peninsula. She settled among the Etruscan tribes and shielded her mortal herd under her broad mantle of power. Her devotees solidified their control over the Latines and other groups, rooting the clan's long association with Italy. Etruscan culture absorbed her name as a masculine sky god equivalent to Zeus, indicating her substantial importance. No hint of her final fate came down to Roman vampires after she vanished close to 450 BCE. She is assumed to be in Torpor. * Troile: All Cainites know the blackened name of Troile, the kinslayer, bound and damned beneath the dead fields of Carthage. The infamous Brujah Methuselah rose up and slew her clan founder, then proceeded to attempt to rebuild the Second City from Carthage. Vampires and humans lived openly in bondage under her dreaded shadow, kept in check by the infernal power wielded by her lover Moloch. * Tryphosa: Called by some the most respected childe of Malkav, this ancient oracle foretold the doom of Carthage at its gates and before the Eternal Senate. History may have changed if Troile, the Brujah Methuselah, heeded her words. Instead she arose to serve as Camillus' foremost adviser and the Malkavian representative in the Triumvirate. A quiet and intensely spiritual woman, she traced the dooms of the Cainites and attempted to decipher hidden meanings in the remaining books of the Sibyls. Her tempestuous relationship with Rodolfo is well remembered among the vampires of Rome, as is her near sacrosanct person. The Triumvir met her fate under the sun's light a decade ago when a harrowing spread through all of Malkav's blood, under circumstances little understood. Category:NPCs Category:Setting Category:Vampire